Literary notes about hustle (AI summary)
The term “hustle” is portrayed with remarkable versatility in literature, serving both as an imperative for rapid, almost frantic activity and as a descriptor of a determined, vigorous spirit. Authors deploy it to capture the immediacy of physical movement or to symbolize the relentless energy that defines a character or an era—ranging from brisk commands to “hustle to your own quarters” ([1]) and lively exhortations like “Hustle, Dave—into the cab!” ([2]), to more reflective depictions of American drive and ambition ([3], [4]). The word also underscores the tension between urgency and the demands of survival or social mobility, as when it is used to depict the necessity to quickly “hustle for lodgin’s” ([5]) or the urgency to meet a deadline ([6]). In every usage, “hustle” encapsulates the blend of physical exertion and spirited persistence that propels both action and character development throughout literary works.
- "Now hustle to your own quarters before the first stroke of taps sounds."
— from Dave Darrin's Fourth Year at Annapolis: Headed for Graduation and the Big Cruise by H. Irving (Harrie Irving) Hancock - A SPIRITED RUSH "Hustle, Dave—into the cab!" shouted Dick Prescott lustily.
— from The Grammar School Boys of Gridley; or, Dick & Co. Start Things Moving by H. Irving (Harrie Irving) Hancock - Mr. Roosevelt was the youngest of all presidents, and he brought to the White House a youthful energy and "hustle" such as no President had before.
— from This Country of Ours by H. E. (Henrietta Elizabeth) Marshall - He must hustle, as an American friend told him, if he meant to get ahead of his fellow men.
— from The Second String by Nat Gould - "We'll go up now to see what Mr. Davis wants, an' then we must hustle for lodgin's.
— from An Amateur Fireman by James Otis - "You don't know how a fellow has to hustle to keep this kind of thing going."
— from The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton
